REVIEW: .hack volume 1: infection
It’s an online RPG simulation! Uh, don’t break out the Network Adapter just yet!
Tags: .hack volume 1: infection Categories: PS2 Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Craig "American Idle" Hansen on Aug 3rd, 2003
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| .hack volume 1: infection (title page) | |||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| No | |||
It’s been a while since anyone offered the world “something new” in the RPG genre. It’s been even longer since Bandai offered the world something other than a pure mech fighting title. Well, all those streaks end with the release of .hack volume 1: infection.
.hack (pronounced “Dot Hack”) is part of a longer series that, interestingly enough, will see three more installments released in the US by Christmas. That’s what Eidos was talking about doing with Tomb Raider, although we’re still waiting on the first installment.
Complaining about other games aside … Bandai’s debut is a fairly impressive one, especially from a creative viewpoint. The concept behind it is fairly simple: grab onto the idea of “massively online multiplayer RPGs (MOM-RPG)” such as EverQuest and creative a compelling storyline based around the life of a player who is playing one.
Huh? Confused? Don’t be.
Here’s the skinny. You’re not REALLY online and you DON’T need a Network Adapter, Internet connection to play .hack. You also don’t need to pay some skanky monthly fee, either. It’s no different than popping in a copy of XenoSaga or Final Fantasy X, in that sense.
Here’s where it’s different: you are playing a character who’s PLAYING a MOM-RPG. Okay, now that we’ve cleared up the concept thing for the Iowans … err, slower-to-catch-on readers in our audience … let’s get down to it.
There’s three basic environments where .hack takes place. The first is your “computer desktop,” where you can receive and respond to e-mail, save the game and do some other basic things. Clues to solve problems and puzzles can often appear in e-mail. There’s even news updates, junk e-mail and downloads; about the only thing you can’t do in .hack’s “virtual Internet” is what most people use the real Internet for … downloading porn! Err … and reading GamerWeb!
The second environment is “The Log-In Screen” which simulates the startup screen of a MOM-RPG. Here you can “Log Into The World,” “Check Bulletin Board” or “Return to Desktop.”
The Bulletin Board is another key area to pick up clues to solving the game, so read it often and thoroughly. Freaky stuff can happen and you can post messages, too.
If this sounds like you’re going to need a PS2 keyboard half the time, relax! Everything you “need” to do in e-mail or on the bulletin board is automated in the game, though you are presented with options on how you’d like to respond. And those choices do affect the flow of the game.
The final environment is “The World,” which is the name of the MOM-RPG you’re “playing.” Anyone who’s played EverQuest or Phantasy Star Online will pretty much recognize the environment. Tons of players roam around a “home base city,” all with little log-in names over their head. You really will think you’re playing a MOM-RPG at times, as some folks are agreeable and others are not.
In the town, there’s all the standard “stock up” locations, such as a weapon shop, armor shop, item shop and so forth, as well as an area to save your game. To get to the hackin’ and slashin’, you need to walk up to The Gate and enter a series of three codewords (there’s a list to choose from). Those word combinations determine what environment you’ll be playing in and what “level” that environment’s monsters will be.
Take this seriously: you don’t really want to go galloping around a world that’s a much higher level than your character … it’s a quick recipe for disaster. If an in-game mission is given that requires you to go to a world that’s a higher level than you are … go somewhere else you can handle until you level up! The game will throw more than one plot thread at you at a time, so you’ll have options.
You’ll make pals as you go and in some worlds, you’ll need a “party” to conquer it. The maximum party is three, you included, so it won’t take long to find a full party, but don’t rely too heavily on any one character … much like MOM-RPG players, they won’t always be “logged in and available” to you.
Particularly fun is how some of these “relationships” play out. You meet a female player in The World, only to find out her “real world” identity is a guy … or a jail-bait high school sophomore who seems dangerously flirtatious with “older men” … although she may just be playing mindgames. Whatever, it’s details like this that increase the interest in logging out of the dungeon crawling and back to your desktop of log-in environments to read e-mail or bulletin board postings.
The actual game environment is the rough equivalent of an online RPG. There’s a “randomly generated dungeons” feel to what you get from “The Gate” but once you explore a particular word combination’s dungeon, it’ll be pretty much the same each time you play it.
The story is divided into two major Acts, which are creatively divided by the concept of a “Beginners Server” and an “Advanced Server” which allows you access to different “home base towns” and different “keyword lists” that help you travel to a new set of dungeons and online friends.
The actual plot is intriguing … things that happen in the game world seem to be having an effect on what’s going on in the “real world.” The server is “under maintenance,” apparently the victim of a hacker who has destabilized the game world. The consequences are a bit of fantasy, but add to the tension as you realize that dying in The World can have a real world impact.
I won’t go into too much plot detail … personally, I hate reviews that spoil too much of the story … but .hack does spin a good, uniquely-told yarn. The only problem is, while you can add hours to the game by visiting random dungeons via The Gate, the essential plot wraps up for most gamers in approximately 30 hours, give or take a few.
That’s about half the length of most decently-long RPGs, but remember, it’s only Episode One in a series that will see at least three more installments unleashed in the US before the end of the year. If all of them are of similar length, you’re talking about 120 hours of gaming goodness this year! And volume 2 is due for release already in May, so don’t waste time. Now is the time to dig in to volume 1, before you fall behind.
The graphics are anime-influenced and pretty decent, especially in storyline cinemas, but are relatively standard compared to other recent releases like XenoSaga. The music and voicework is solid but also pales next to top-of-the-line RPGs like XenoSaga.
Still, there’s plenty here to appreciate from an originality standpoint as well as a storyline standpoint. While it may not be quite on par with the best from Namco, Square or Enix, a couple hours in you won’t mind so much. If real MOM-RPGs were this intriguing, we’d all be playing them.
Even so, the game falls short of must-have status; as part of a “four installments this year” series, the full-price pricetag is a little steep when you consider that by the end of the year, you’ll have spent about $200 USD on .hack episodes alone, for roughly the same number of hours you can conceivably get out of XenoSaga for only $50.
But there is one small consolation: In volume one, Bandai tosses in a DVD of the Japanese anime series that inspired the game, with US localization. The 45-minute episode also has some hints that’ll help you through the game, but also is just a nice toss-in that’ll make you feel less bad about paying a full $50 for a game that, by RPG standards, is a bit short all by itself. Here’s hoping Bandai continues tossing in the anime DVDs in the rest of the series … or if they don’t, that they cut the price by maybe $15.
While .hack is pretty darn awesome, it’s more for RPG and MOM-RPG fans than it is for the novice gamer. While it may not attract the crossover audience, if the rest of the installments are as well done as volume one: infection, it will rank as one of the better-remembered series to appear on PS2, when all is said and done.
And truth be told, the battle system is pretty thin stuff after a while; that’s a downside, but not unlike the battle systems in most MOM-RPGs…
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
--Highly original concept --Multi-chapter approach --Nice graphics and game interface |
7.1 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
--Shallow battle system --Too short, although the battle system may make you grateful for that |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Highly original and addictive, .hack is more interesting than most of the MOM-RPGs the game attempts to simulate. The game has a good look, although it’s a step down from the best Square, Enix and Namco have to offer. Still, the fascinating concept and excellent execution make up for the game’s less polished elements. The DVD anime throw-in adds extra value and, unlike XenoSaga, is the first episode of a series that will actually be complete BEFORE the PS3 makes its debut in 2005 or so... | |
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Tags: .hack volume 1: infection
Posted by Craig "American Idle" Hansen on Aug 3rd, 2003 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
